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One in a hundred babies born today will be born with congenital heart disease. And for these infants, their first months are spent in the hospital.
But now, new technology is allowing parents to take their babies home, knowing that doctors are keeping a close watch on them.
Little De’Angelo Jr. has smiled through a lot this past year.
He was born with a complex form of hypoplastic right heart syndrome.
“Parts of his heart didn’t form,” says Miracle Redrick, De’Angelo’s Mom. “So, like we have chambers that open and close to let blood flow in. His was like born like a wall.”
After 118 days and one heart surgery, De’Angelo was sent home to wait for his next operation.
“We’re very focused on watching them closely at home,” says Sarah Plummer, pediatric cardiologist at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. “But we’d like for them to get home. That’s the best place for them to be if we can do it safely.”
New digital home monitoring technology called “Hearts at Home” is helping doctors keep an eye on De’Angelo from a distance. Oxygen levels, heart rates, and weight can be monitored in real time through an app every single day.
“There’s also a place for them to put photographs, videos, additional information in terms of how the babies are feeding and pooping and peeing, and if they’re throwing up or not,” Plummer says.
“We are constantly on the iPad, on the desktop and viewing where these families are at,” says Jodi Zalewski, nurse practitioner at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. “We’re on the phone and we’re catching things early for these families to make sure that nothing is happening at home.”
Something did happen to De’angelo… he caught COVID. But even then, this little fighter stayed home.
“It allowed us to watch him from afar and not have to admit him to the hospital,” Plummer says.
“He’s strong, he’s strong,” Redrick says. “He fights off a lot.”
Now, De’Angelo is feeling better waiting at home with his mom and dad for his next procedure.
Since implementing the app in 2017, no babies at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital have died while at home waiting for their next procedure.
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